SAN JOSE, Calif. — Andrew Ladd made it to Silicon Valley on Wednesday afternoon following the birth of his yet-to-be-named daughter, but it was half an hour after Jets practice had begun so he watched the 60-minute workout instead of hitting the ice.

So, naturally, his teammates let him have it after practice, which concluded with 10 minutes of hard skating.

“Couldn’t have grabbed a flight that was two hours earlier?” centre Bryan Little chirped as he stepped off the ice.

Left winger Dustin Byfuglien took it one step further, dropping his stick and mitts, and attempted to pull Ladd’s jacket over his head.

It was all in good fun, of course, but that wasn’t the case earlier in the week when Ladd chose to be with his wife rather than play in a critical game against the Dallas Stars. Some people actually thought he should have chosen the game over his family.

No, really.

“It was an easy decision for me,” Ladd said after arriving at the Sharks Ice practice facility. “I got home just before 12 on Sunday night, and the baby was actually born before I got there.

“It was a quick labour, and I felt it was right to stay and make sure my wife was OK and my daughter was OK. We don’t have any family in town, so I wanted to be there to support them.”

The 2-1 loss to the Stars on Monday was the first game Ladd had missed as a member of the Jets. He had played 233 consecutive games with the Atlanta Thrashers and Jets before missing Monday’s crucial contest.

“I don’t think there is anything else but family for that’s my number one priority, and it trumps everything else in life,” Ladd said. “It was a pretty easy decision for me.”

Ladd’s teammates couldn’t believe the criticism they were hearing emanating out of the back woods of Winnipeg.

“We were joking around before that only in Winnipeg someone would say negative comments about the birth of a child,” Little said. “Then I heard someone actually did. I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I’m not.”

And that right there is the key point to this entire story. If the players in Winnipeg are not surprised that some fans and media would actually criticize a player for skipping a game to be there for the birth of a child, what do the ones who don’t play in Winnipeg think? It’s going to be hard enough to convince players to come to Winnipeg and endure our absolutely atrocious winters, but now this? Just add it to the list of reasons why players won’t want to play in Winnipeg.

Head coach Paul Maurice believes that can be overcome, however.

“When you come to move your family to a place, the most important thing is to know they’ll fit in there and have an extended family from the team,” Maurice said. “When you sit down to sign here and they say ‘Winnipeg is a family first organization,’ you have to follow through on it. People will now know what they’re getting with the Winnipeg Jets.”

Maurice was proud of Ladd and the organization for standing by its convictions.

“It’s easy to say that you’re family first until there’s a cost to it,” he said. “Then when there’s a cost to it, people will ask if it’s a good rule. It is. Bang on, 100 per cent. You have to have conviction of who you are and what you do.

“We’re family first here and if your wife’s having a baby, you’re going to be there for her. Make your commitments and then stand by them.”

You wonder, though, if NHL free agents will think twice about coming to Winnipeg and having to stand by their convictions after this debacle.

Jets captain Andrew Ladd says being with wife and newborn was easy decision

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Andrew Ladd didn’t think twice when learning on Sunday night in Dallas that his wife had gone into labour.

The Jets captain was going to head back to Winnipeg immediately, and it didn’t matter that the Jets had a game on Monday night against the Stars. He needed to be there for his wife, Brandy.

“It was an easy decision for me,” Ladd said this afternoon after arriving in San Jose. “I got home just before 12 on Sunday night, and the baby was actually born before I got there.

“It was a quick labour, and I felt it was right to stay and make sure my wife was OK and my daughter was OK. We don’t have any family in town, so I wanted to be there to support them.”

Ladd missed his first game as a member of the Jets on Monday night in Dallas, a 2-1 loss to the Stars. Ladd had played 233 consecutive games with the Atlanta Thrashers and Jets before missing the crucial contest. There was criticism from some people in Winnipeg, including TSN 1290 radio ho